Conversion refusals lead to frustration

Farmers and landowners in Nottinghamshire are being frustrated in their attempts to convert old agricultural buildings to much-needed homes in the countryside.

Recently published figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government reveal that just over 52 per cent of agricultural to residential planning applications made in the county in 2015 were refused. This compares to an average refusal rate of 43 percent across the CLA’s eastern region during the same period.

The applications were made under the relaxed planning regime of Permitted Development Rights (PDR), which has been designed and implemented by the Government in order to make it easier to convert buildings to other uses, such as old barns to homes.